Little Italy Turns Ten on Sharks Way

Little Italy San Jose will mark ten years of its street festival on Sunday, October 4, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Little Italy Way and Sharks Way, a few blocks from SAP Center in Downtown San Jose. Organizers at the Little Italy San Jose Foundation expect 20,000 to 25,000 people. The district itself dates to 2016--the festival grew into one of Northern California’s larger Italian days, with food stalls, Cal-Italia wine, crafts, museum tours, a kids’ train, and a car row that now ranks among the bigger Italian-marque displays in the country. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and Pagani usually show up.

Opening ceremonies start at 11:30 a.m. Grammy-winning accordionist Cory Pesaturo takes 12:15. New York Italian-American jazz singer Vanessa Racci follows at 1:15, then a duo set with Pesaturo at 1:45. Tenor Pasquale Esposito headlines at 3:15 for about 90 minutes. The Anthony Nino Lane Band closes from 5:30. New murals honoring Italian-American work in the valley are scheduled for dedication over the weekend. Proceeds feed the Cultural Center and Museum on the same block.

Today is the paid warm-up: a four-course dinner with wine and a concert by Racci and Pesaturo at the Museum Piazza and Italian Cellar Speakeasy, $75 a head. That is the only ticketed piece.

Festival page and dinner tickets: https://www.littleitalysj.com/little-italy-san-jose-festival

7th Annual Little Italy San Jose Italian Festival

The Little Italy San Jose Italian Festival is back this Sunday, October 6th. This is an action packed event going from 11am to 7pm, with an afterparty at the Italian Cellar Speakeasy from 7pm to 11pm.

The festival includes one of the largest Italian car shows in the United States, tons of authentic Italian cuisine, wine tasting, nonstop live music, arts & crafts, children's activities, and tours of the brand new Italian Museum (San Jose's first new museum in ages).

For more information, head over here.

The Italian Family Festa is This Weekend!

The 35th annual Italian Family Festa is coming to Little Italy San Jose this Saturday and Sunday. There will be free entertainment, a grape stomp, bocce ball, wine tasting, arts & crafts, and of course tons a great Italian food. Last year I remember the fried zuchinni, meatball sandwiches, and eggplant pesto sandwiches being fantastic.

The event runs from 11am to 8pm on Saturday (August 29th) and 11am to 6pm on Sunday (August 30th). 35,000 people are expected to attend and seating is limited, so bring a lawn chair if you plan on staying for a while. You can see the full schedule below. Head over to the Italian Family Festa website for more info and details.

The Italian Family Festa is This Weekend!

The Italian Family Festa is returning to the Guadalupe River Park this year, right behind San Jose's Little Italy! This was a great event last year--perhaps the best Family Festa I can remember--and it will continue to grow this year with even more activities and events.

Guadalupe River Park will be overflowing with booths featuring all sorts of specialty Italian foods and arts & crafts, there will be bocce ball, a grape stomp, and of course lots of entertainment.  The fun goes from noon to 9pm on Saturday and noon to 6pm on Sunday, so there are lots of opportunities to stop by and enjoy Italian culture!

For more information, you can take a look at the Italian American Heritage Foundation website over here.

More Italian Family Festa Photos!

Thomas Wohlmut sent me a few shots from last weekend's Italian Family Festa that really show off the number of people that attended. This event was a huge success and hopefully will become a downtown tradition for many years to come.